Callen's 2nd Birthday Party

Callen's birthday is tomorrow. I can and can not believe it. Unfortunately his annual well check isn't until later this month so I don't know exact stats, but I can say that he is in 2T clothing only because it is just barely long enough but still *kind of* hugs his waist. I'm still constantly pulling up his pants and wishing that they were longer. Tall and skinny is an understatement. He is almost as tall as some of our 3 year old play date friends. No joke. No idea where he gets that height from....(*eye roll*)

Anyhoo! We had a smaller party for Callen this year due to his shyness around people he doesn't know very well. My parents were gracious enough to host it at their house; their beautiful and spacious back yard is one of the kids (and our!) favorite places to play and lounge, and luckily the weather held out long enough for us to have our party! It ended up being a really nice day weather-wise, cloudy and in the mid-70's.

We felt especially lucky to have Grandpa Mustache and Uncle Brent come in from Chicago, and Great Auntie Sharon come down from northern MN just for Callen's party. Nana had an art show in IL and couldn't get away, but we look forward to seeing her later this summer!

We did a vehicle theme due to Cal's complete obsession with wheels. I designed the invitations myself using images of various vehicles I found on the web; quick mask quickly became one of my favorite tools in photoshop! lol. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Being bashful as the guests start to arrive

Audia and Grandpa Mustache

Audia and Uncle Brent

Cal and his truck from Audia

The kiddos

Definitely impressed by the Cars toys!

Opening gifts

Workbench from Nana and Grandpa Mustache

All the kiddos

Hugs for Auntie Sharon

Summer is "here"!

You know, if you can really call it summer when it's 55 degrees and raining most of the time. But, school is out and the craziness of May is over, so it's summer to me!

Munchkin's last week of school was the week of Memorial Day. She had "Spring Sing" on Wednesday, which is a concert the kids put on for all the parents/family who wants to watch. She really is such a performer; she loved being in front of a crowd and kept smiling and waving at us the whole concert. Friday was the official last day. She was pretty sad to leave, and has already talked a few times about wishing school could start again sooner. I'm trying to keep our weeks busy, and she'll be starting Gymnastics with a friend next week, so hopefully that will help her to feel like it's not such a total drag to be home with Mom and Brother all the time :-)

Audia and her teacher, Miss Lacey

Audia's birthday is one week past the cutoff for starting Kindergarten in 2013 so she will have one more year of Preschool before moving to the "Big Kid School." I go back and forth about being disappointed and glad that this is the case; on the one hand I feel like she is ready for "real" school but on the other I look forward to having an extra year with her only in school part time, and I can also see benefits later (ie High School) with her being one of the oldest in her class. Not to mention being older when she goes off to college, should she so chose.

Cal's turning 2 next week, and we have his birthday party this weekend. He as just exploded verbally in the past couple of weeks, and is also testing us much more by trying to assert his independence in anything and everything. Thankfully he is still a good sleeper, even though it is taking him longer to go to sleep at night. My good eater has all but disappeared, though, and most days I feel lucky to get him to eat anything at all. Then he'll have a day where he'll eat anything you put in front of him. I have to keep reminding myself that he will eat when he's hungry. It's certainly not like he's not growing....the kid is as tall as some three year olds!

This summer should be a fun one. We have two trips to the cottage planned, as well as many play dates on the books already. And I am second shooting weddings most weekends, which I am really enjoying!

Wow! It's been a while. That seems to be how journaling goes for me, though. I kept journals starting in middle school, all the way until I was 20 or 21 and the frequency of my writing always seemed to ebb and flow.

The kids are doing great. Audia is officially 4 and a half this month, and we had her last parent teacher conference a couple of weeks ago. Miss Lacey had nothing but good things to say about Audia, including that she is one of the most advanced in the class both academically and socially. Her favorite area in the class room is the free art area, she's very eager to help both her teachers and classmates, and she has multiple friends of both genders.
In other news, Munchkin is still huge into superheroes, specifically Iron Man and the Silver Surfer these days. She's become a much pickier eater, though it's pretty mood-based so she will be fine with something one day and not want it at all the next. Thankfully we haven't entered "I'll only eat Kraft mac and cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, or hot dogs" territory. And while of course she and Cal have their moments of sibling rivalry, all-in-all she is a wonderful big sister, regularly playing with him, checking on him, reading to him, and just generally including him in what she's doing. Cal is one lucky guy, that's for sure!

Cal is 21 months now and a whopping 30 pounds. I'm not sure of his height but I do know that while he is a 2T for length, he is still in 18 months for width. He is still sweet as can be, loving to snuggle and cuddle and give kisses and hugs and whispering "I love you." But despite his inherent sweetness, Callen is definitely entering 'terrible twos' territory lately with regular displays of independence and defiance. He throws tantrums in a way that Audia never did, throwing himself on the floor, kicking and screaming when something really sets him off. His favorite word these days is "STOP!" which sounds more like "DOP!" He is still HUGE into wheels, which I have a feeling will never ever change. His favorite vehicles are buses, which he loves to watch through our living room window. He also love nails. The first thing he wants to do when he wakes up in the morning is go down stairs to the living room and sit in my lap to look at nails on my phone. He'll hand me my phone and say "Nails! Nails, mommy!" So we'll flip through instagram photos of manicures, and he'll double tap the ones he likes to "heart" them. He adores and looks up to his big sister in a way that melts my heart. He wants to do whatever she's doing, and I am so grateful that she embraces that (most of the time.) They are so lucky to have each other!

Ten Years of Being 'Home'

Ten years. In some ways it feels impossible that it's been that long, and in others it feels like it's been much longer. Ten years ago I took a leap of faith and decided to meet in person a guy who I had met online. We had only emailed back and forth a handful of times, and I remember feeling extremely fed up with life in general. "Life in general" back then at the what now seems like EXTREMELY young age of 20, meant my romantic life, which of course was all that really mattered. There were only one or two guys in any of my college classes that were remotely interesting to me and they were either taken or not really my type. So when this 'Hot or Not' guy invited me (and any friends who I cared to bring along) to meet him and a group of his friends for bowling, I decided to stuff my inherent shyness and go for it. I remember walking into the bowling alley with my college roomie and BFF, Shaunie, and seeing Chris stand up a few lanes away. There was a feeling of relief; not only was he just as handsome in person as he was in his hot or not picture (YES. Hot or Not. I know. Who the heck meets their future spouse on Hotornot.com?? Well, I did,) but he had the same genuinely friendly vibe that I had detected in his emails. He came up, gave me a hug, introduced himself to Shaunie, and walked us over to his group of friends to introduce us to them as well. Shaunie and I didn't stay long, maybe a half hour or so. But it was long enough for us to both agree upon leaving, that they were a group of people we could see ourselves hanging out with again in the future.

I felt at home with Chris pretty much immediately. We had a level of comfort that I've found in most other relationships takes months or years to develop. A genuine, strong friendship has been at the heart of our relationship since day one. The first couple of years had their ups and downs; we broke up and got back together a couple of times. But we always remained friends. That friendship wasn't something that I think either of us was willing to let go of. It's the kind of friendship that spans a lifetime. And while our lifestyles have changed (we've replaced numerous camping and fishing trips with numerous diaper changes and trips to the pediatrician,) our friendship has not. We still enjoy just being together. We still make eachother laugh and think, we still support and advise eachother. We still talk. We still text and IM eachother midday just to say "hi." and "I love you." We still dream together of the things we'll do and places we'll see. And I am still so incredibly grateful for that leap of faith I took 10 years ago today. Because it really was the first day of the rest of my life. And I couldn't be any more lucky to have such and incredible man to share that life with.


Below are a few photos from the first year we were dating. Man, we look young, don't we??

My Social Butterfly

I took munchkin to the doctor today to have a rash looked at (we're still waiting on test results to find out if it's strep or, more likely, just a virus.) Since it was a same-day appointment, we ended up waiting around in the waiting room for a good forty minutes before getting to go into an exam room. The waiting room at our pediatrician's office is pretty small; there are maybe 30 chairs total, a fish tank, a few tables, and a tv mounted to the wall. The room is small enough that you can always see anyone else in the waiting room, which was heaven for a social butterfly like Audia.
I've always known that Audia was a friendly kid, but seeing her in action today was a lot of fun for me. I would even go as far as to say that it was a bit of an eye-opener. It's pretty rare that I get to really watch and hear her interact with kids she doesn't know; when we're at a playgound or play area at the mall, it's not like I'm following around behind her the whole time. She does her own thing, and I keep an eye from a distance. Being able to sit back and watch her do her thing, while being able to hear her the whole time was a treat.
There were a handful of kids who went through while we were waiting, none older than 6 or 7, I would guess. And every kid that came in, she walked right up and said a friendly "hi!" to. She helped a younger boy, maybe 2 or 3 years old, take off his jacket while his mom filled out a form. She showed another little girl who was 18 months ("She's the same age as my brother, Callen!" She told her mom,) the fish in the tank, naming each one's color. And she asked a girl, about a year older than her, about Kindergarten. I was so impressed, not only by her outgoing-ness (as I was, and still am, pretty shy with strangers,) but by her ability to adapt her interactions based on the age of the child she was interacting with. A lot of kids her age like to talk about themselves, and don't get me wrong, Audia loves to tell people all about her brother and Spiderman and her My Little Ponies. But the majority of her interactions with these other kids were about them, not her, and it was a bit of an eye-opener. Maybe even a little peek into her future. I only hope that she'll maintain her outgoing nature while also gaining a healthy understanding of "stranger danger." I hope that no bullies or bad experiences with other kids will squelch her brave, social nature. And I cannot wait to see what she does with her interest in and empathy towards others. Keep flying, my girl! I can't wait to see where the wind takes you!

The best of friends

The friendship developing between Audia and Callen is something that I feel so very grateful to be able to witness. Since the day Chris and I decided we wanted to have a second child, I've been worried about how it would affect Audia and how the two siblings would get along. I know plenty of people who either do not get along with their siblings, or for whom it took YEARS before they started getting along. I am not naive enough to believe that Audia and Cal will always be such close friends; all relationships wax and wane, and there are of course moments where one or the other of them wants nothing to do with their sibling. But overall, I really don't think they could be any luckier to have one-another. From the day Callen was born, Audia has been right there, wanting to help keep him happy, play with him, snuggle him, and love on him. And as Callen gets older and more independent, he turns more and more to his sister for play and assistance and hugs and loves. If Audia is upset about something, Cal is right there to give her a hug. Audia will give Callen half of her cookie, or snack, or whatever she has that he wants, usually without even thinking twice about it. And pretty much every time we go for a ride anywhere in the car, they can be found holding hands. It melts my heart every. single. time. I can only hope that their relationship will continue to blossom in such an incredibly sweet way, and that no matter where life takes them, they will always find their way to one-another.

Callen at 18 Months

Well, our tall and skinny boy is getting taller and skinnier! At 35.5" tall, Cal is the height of the average 28 month old boy! He's 26 lbs, 3 oz, which puts him smack dab at the 50th percentile for his age. This explains why 18 month size clothes are too short and 2T are too baggy!! Doc S says Cal looks great, and is right on track with speech, motor skills, social skills, etc.

At 18 months, Cal is

• Saying new words every day! He has difficulty annunciating some things, but generally he is easy to understand if you pay attention to what he's doing/looking at. His favorite words these days are "wheel" and "ball." He will point at and name every ball, wheel, and light wherever we are!
• Still obsessed with wheels. He loves anything on wheels, and even just plain old lego wheels. I have a feeling this kid is going to be a total gearhead.
• Loving playing with his sister as much as ever! He gets frustrated when she goes off and does her own thing, but also has moments where he'd rather play by himself.
• Getting much better at being gentle with Fievel. He went through a phase where everytime he'd see Fievel, he'd go over and push him off of whatever Fievel was sitting on, or chase him around with his cars. He's been a lot better about being gentle and petting Fievel lately, however.
• Such a great helper!! He is pretty good at helping pick up toys, and loves to help take dishes out of the dishwasher and put the laundry in the dryer. He will frequently pick up little crumbs or fuzzies off the floor and put them in the garbage on his own, and hates it when his hands get dirty!
• Very into playing pretend. He likes to pretend to cook at the play kitchen, take care of the baby dolls, and play snuggle his stuffed animals
• Surprisingly good at building with legos and duplos! He will build something and then proudly show it to whomever's around, saying "Ta da!"
• Such a sweetheart. He loves to give kisses, cheers everyone at the table, and snuggle. Whenever Audia is upset, he gives her hugs and kisses.